Turf and soil maintenance, for those involved in the golfing industry ornamental horticulture, nursery growers, agriculture and turf grass management, plays a critical role in the success of a business. The greens and fairways provide the surface where golfers spend the majority of their time. Proper treatment and maintenance of that surface creates a higher quality product, and provides for a more aesthetically appealing landscape, which creates a highly attractive and desirable course for play.
The introduction of various materials, such as soil amendments, fertilizers, insecticides, and aeration improves the properties of the soil and the growth it supports. Conventionally, farmers and turf maintenance people have, for the most part, incorporated substances such as fertilizers, insecticides and polymers into the soil using tillage tools that mechanically cut through the ground and release the additive products at a point below the top surface of the ground. Surface treatment may also be carried out by either spraying liquid chemicals onto the top surface of the ground or spreading dry materials on the surface without making efforts to incorporate them deeper into the soil. However, top surface application of chemicals results in the presence of excess material left on the surface leading to several undesirable side effects, such as a slip and fall hazard, excess moisture on the surface, wasted material, and environmental impairment due to run off and exposure to wild life.
While a significant amount of technology currently exists for placing liquid substances into the subsurface using high pressure water jets that cut through the soil and carry the substance down to the desired depth, very little successful work has been done in the application of liquid additives with precision and thorough distribution in the root zone. Accordingly, there exists a need for an additive that can be delivered precisely and thoroughly to the root zone that distributes nutrients while reducing the necessity for frequent watering and soil treatments.